European Space Infrastructure Partnership Targets Sovereign Satellite Manufacturing by Decade’s End
Schaeffler and Spire Global Sign MoU to Build Industrialized German Satellite Platform Business
A memorandum of understanding to develop spacecraft subsystems, satellite platforms, and advanced radiofrequency and environmental sensing capabilities has been signed by Schaeffler AG and Spire Global. The agreement targets the establishment of a sovereign European space hardware and mission business — industrialized in Germany and deployable at scale — before the end of the decade.
“Together with Schaeffler, we share a long-term vision for sovereign European space capability – built, deployed, and operated within Europe at industrial scale.”
Theresa Condor, Spire Global
The partnership combines Schaeffler’s precision engineering and manufacturing scale with Spire’s flight-proven satellite platform expertise. The two companies aim to establish what they describe as a new European standard for space-industrial capability, targeting defense, weather, civil security, and critical-infrastructure missions.
Under the MoU, initial cooperation will focus on securing and scaling supply chains for critical spacecraft subsystems. In parallel, the companies will evaluate a path toward industrialized satellite bus platforms for sovereign constellation programs. Schaeffler will lead precision manufacturing scale-up, while Spire will contribute platform architecture, flight software, and operational expertise.
“Together with Schaeffler, we share a long-term vision for sovereign European space capability (that is) built, deployed, and operated within Europe at industrial scale,” said Theresa Condor, CEO of Spire Global. “This is a meaningful step toward a reliable, industrialized pathway for critical dual-use missions and a more self-reliant European space-industrial base capable of operating at the speed and scale modern missions require.”
Schaeffler, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, has identified space and defense as strategic growth fields under its Strategic Ambition 2035 framework. The company brings certified production discipline refined across decades of automotive and industrial supply, along with established relationships with European defense and government customers. Its precision manufacturing, motor and bearing heritage, and power electronics capability are central to the industrial rationale behind the partnership.
“As a motion technology company Schaeffler is ideally positioned to enter the new space sector,” said Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler. “We recognize a powerful industrial logic at the heart of this cooperation. Schaeffler’s precision manufacturing, motor and bearing heritage, and power electronics capability are precisely what the growing European satellite industry requires in industrialized, flight-qualified hardware.”
Spire Global brings substantial flight heritage to the arrangement. Since 2013, the company has designed, built, and launched more than 240 satellites across more than 40 launch campaigns. Spire currently maintains capacity to build 300 to 400 satellites per year across facilities in the United States and Europe, a dual-continent manufacturing capability the companies say differentiates Spire from other commercial satellite data providers.
The agreement also deepens Spire’s footprint in Germany. In May 2025, Spire opened a satellite manufacturing facility in Munich, and the partnership with Schaeffler is intended to expand that European manufacturing presence and broaden access to sovereign defense and government customers across the continent.
Rosenfeld noted that Schaeffler’s industrial capabilities position the company to pursue a comparable trajectory in the European market, with Spire serving as its space-heritage and mission-enablement partner.
The partnership arrives at a moment of accelerating European demand for commercially produced, sovereign satellite infrastructure, as governments across the continent seek to reduce reliance on non-European supply chains for critical space capabilities.